REVITALIZATION OF LOWER BAZAAR AREA, SHIMLA

Abstract

Shimla is one of the oldest hill towns of India. It was established by the Britishers in 1830. The city Municipal Committee in Shimla was established in 1851. In 1864 the city was announced as summer capital of India by the Britishers. Over the years due to the uncontrolled population growth, the fast pace of urbanisation resulted in unplanned and chaotic development of the city. The Shimla's famous Mall Road was built in mid of 19th century only for the Britishers as it was topmost ridge giving panoramic views of surrounding areas of Shimla. The Indian population before independence were forced to live in the streets on lower altitudes than the Mall Road as a result Lower Bazaar was made. In the present scenario the streets of the core of the Shimla city is suffering from huge congestion problems. Other than the Mall Road none of the streets of core of Shimla is functioning to its potential use. Lower Bazaar Street is one such street which is densely populated with haphazard development and full of congestion. The street has mixed land use i.e. commercial on the lower floors and residential on the upper floors. The Lower Bazaar street has no adequate visual connectivity to its natural surroundings and inconvenient pedestrian access to the built environment. Most of the streets in Shimla are pedestrian and hence planning design measures for comfortable and enjoyable pedestrian moment is required to be carried out. There are no seating areas for pedestrians in 810 meters long Street. The street is narrow, and even the hawkers occupy almost half of the street width. This street is never out of consumers even on Sundays when the shops are closed hawkers occupy the street with their goods. One of the difficult challenge is to increase its width because of cutting of the hills and there are shops on both sides of the street. There is proposal by the government of Himachal Pradesh to move the wholesale markets (Sabji Mandi and Anaj Market) from the core area of Shimla to its outskirts. These markets are in close vicinity of the Lower Bazaar area. This shifting of these market places will help in decongesting the Street. The built environment of the streetscape of Lower Bazaar is very chaotic. There is hardly any harmony in the facade elements of the street. There are no proper signage or facade control byelaws, which makes it more chaotic. Most of the buildings are outage and unsafe which gives more shabby look to the built environment of the street and is a threat to the life of people residing in them. Lack of landscape adds to the unpleasant visual quality of the street. Being in the lap of beautiful Himalayas the street is far from the natural beauty. All these issues cry for the revitalization of the Lower Bazaar Area. The main goals of revitalization are: • To improve not only the physical but also the emotional state of urban space through creative means • To rediscover heritage and local history • To regenerate the aesthetic appeal and attraction to "the real city" The main issues of Lower Bazaar Area are • Lack of comfort for pedestrian moment • Chaotic built environment • Lack of connectivity to natural and built environment Hence design proposals mainly revolve around these main issues. REVITALIZATION OF LOWER BAZAAR AREA, SHIMLA Page viii For better pedestrian moment there are proposals made like providing seating areas, separate space for the hawkers, landscaping the street, designing better shopfronts and providing the pedestrians with amenities like toilets, dustbins and drinking water booths at regular intervals. The suggested proposals for revitalizing the lower bazaar area intent to enhance the quality of existing built environment. The proposals mainly cover re-modifying of old buildings, signage, temporary structures, shop fronts, etc. the design proposals also includes the major features of the streetscapes such as types of openings, railings of balconies and streets, types of roofs and building materials for facia. If executed with greater sensitivity these proposals intend to make the Lower Bazaar Street of Shimla better attraction points for tourists as well as walkers paradise for the local population. Thus the street can be revitalized. Chapter 1 enlists the aims, objectives and limitations of this thesis outlining a methodology in which the study was conducted. Chapter 2 points out the importance of Revitalization during designing an Urban Space. It also gives the description of streets and streetscapes which is necessary for giving revitalization proposals. The chapter gives the guidelines for comfortable pedestrian moment. It also illustrates the plans taken by the Government of Himachal Pradesh to decongest the city core. It gives information about the bye laws persisting in the Lower Bazaar area. It also details out the historical background of the city with respect to built environment which further helps in identifying their elevation features which can be further incorporated Chapter 3 presents case studies to demonstrate the applicability of Revitalization on the streets. It also indicates the scenario of streets on hill cities of India. The case studies indicate various merits and demerits of designing streetscape on hills with great regard towards the pedestrian moment. The case studies also indicates the value of natural environment n designing the street on hill or any other region Chapter 4 gives the site analysis of the Lower Bazaar Street. It gives detailed information about many factors like site location, type of landuse, and its historical value. The chapter also gives information about the built environment climatic conditions and the visual quality of the street. The chapter also analysis the human activities on the street, vehicular and pedestrian moment anf the hourly based functions of the street Chapter 5 discusses the Revitalizing issues of the street of Lower Bazaar which will further help in making of the design proposals. It also discusses the opportunities and constraints for revitalization on the street Chapter 6 gives the final solution to the issues in lower bazaar street. It aims to provide comfortable walking experience, Rich built environment to the users and connecting the street to surrounding built and natural environment which in return enhances the consumerism of the street.